Today in Washington D. C. - Nov 7, 2007

From Senate sources: Work on the farm bill has stalled thanks to Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to prevent Republicans from offering amendments without his approval (AP report). Reid’s move is the latest example of Democrats embracing a procedure during this Congress they had previously vilified.

At his press conference yesterday, Reid declared that prior to Thanksgiving, he would NOT be passing a “patch” to prevent 19 million taxpayers from having to pay the alternative minimum tax (AMT) next year . Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and IRS Commissioner Linda Stiff both wrote letters warning of the consequences of delaying an AMT patch which includes a delay in issuing around $75 billion in tax refunds. McClatchy reports on the problems that will be created when Congress misses the Nov. 16th deadline to pass an AMT patch.

The House is expected to vote on its version of a patch later this week, which includes offsetting tax hikes. CongressDaily reports today that some Democrats are considering removing the tax hikes in order to avoid a “130-percent tax increase.”

Democrats still have not sent a single funding bill to President Bush to sign. The Hill reports that Democrats are once again looking to debate Iraq strategy and that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted that “the basis of the plan is identical to previous bills moved by the Democrat majority, such as the withdrawal plan that the House passed in July and the war supplemental that President Bush vetoed in May.” Democrats are reviving this debate completely oblivious to the positive changes occurring in Iraq.

All of this adds up to monumental mismanagement of Congress by Democrats. The Senate Republican Leadership will hold a press conference at 12:15 today to highlight all the problems Democrats have had over the past year.

On The Floor: The Senate at10:45 AM, the Senate will join the House for an address to a Joint Session of Congress by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The Senate will return at 12:15 PM and will consider the conference report on the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (H.R. 3043), which includes the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) will be recognized later in the day to make a point of order that the combined bill violates new rules adopted by Democrats earlier in the year which prohibit including new matters in conference reports not passed in either chamber. Senators will then vote on waiving the point of order, which takes 60 votes.

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